Jobs in Austin Increase

In keeping with the growing thought that the economic recession may be coming to an end, more jobs in Austin were added last month.

The Texas Workforce Commission has reported that the Austin-Round Rock area added 5,400 jobs from August to September. During the same time, the area's unemployment rate stayed flat at 7.2 percent.

Overall, the area's unemployment rate has remained relatively low compared to the national unemployment rate, which currently sits at 9.8 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Austin's unemployment rate reached 6.4 percent in January, 6.3 percent in February, 6.2 percent in March, 5.8 percent in April, 6.2 percent in May, 7.1 percent in June, 7.3 percent in July and 7.2 percent in August and September.

Employment gains in state and local government accounted for the majority of new positions as schools and colleges in the area added staff in order to prepare for the new school year. The industry added 7,600 jobs from August to September and 3,000 jobs, or 1.8 percent, from last year.

The education and health services industry, which has managed to remain relatively stable despite economic conditions, added 1,100 jobs from August to September and 2,900 jobs, or 3.6 percent, from last year.

The information, financial activities and other services industries remained flat when compared to August, employing 19,800 workers, 45,700 workers and 32,500 workers, respectively.

A handful of industries saw a decrease in employment on a month-to-month basis, including mining, logging and construction by 300 jobs; manufacturing by 600 jobs; trade, transportation and utilities by 1,000 jobs; professional and business services by 200 jobs; and leisure and hospitality by 1,200 jobs.

When compared to last year, the financial activities industry added 1,000 jobs; the professional and business services industry added 1,500 jobs; and the other services industry added 800 jobs.

Several industries saw a decrease in employment when compared to last year, including:

• mining, logging and construction by 3,100 jobs or 6.6 percent
• manufacturing by 6,600 jobs or 11.5 percent
• trade, transportation and utilities by 3,800 jobs or 2.7 percent
• information by 900 jobs or 4.4 percent
• leisure and hospitality by 300 jobs or .4 percent

Jobs in Arizona Remain Flat

As unemployment remained unchanged, only two industries were able to add jobs in Arizona during September, according to a new report from the Arizona Workforce Informer.

The state's unemployment rate remained steady at 9.1 percent, which is slightly lower than the national unemployment rate of 9.8 percent and higher than the state's unemployment rate of 6 percent in September 2008.

When it comes to the Arizona's metropolitan areas, Yuma saw the largest unemployment rate during August, at 20.7 percent, followed by LHC-Kingman at 10.6 percent, Prescott at 9.5 percent, Phoenix at 8.5 percent, Flagstaff at 8.3 percent and Tucson at 8.2 percent.

Only two industries saw an increase in employment from August to September, including government by 19,500 jobs and education and health services by 700 jobs.

Every other industry lost jobs on a month-to-month basis, with trade, transportation and utilities seeing the biggest decline, losing 4,200 jobs. The leisure and hospitality industry lost 2,400 jobs, construction lost 900 jobs, professional and business services lost 500 jobs, financial activities lost 500 jobs, information lost 400 jobs, other services lost 300 jobs, manufacturing lost 300 jobs and natural resources and mining lost 100 jobs.

"Employment gains in September are typically three to four times larger than seen this year," the report notes. "Prior to the current recession, leisure and hospitality gained an average of 2,600 jobs each September from 1990 to 2007. Another sector that usually adds jobs in September is trade, transportation and utilities, which averaged an increase of 1,600 jobs each September. The government sector (primarily public education) averaged 26,500 job gains during September over 1990 to 2007.

"Since September 2008, 195,800 non-farm jobs have been lost, and a total of 305,300 lost since the recession began in December 2007," the report continues. "The rate of loss accelerated on a monthly basis over the period February 2008 through May 2009, but has been relatively constant at around -7.5 percent for the last five months."

Top 10 Entry Level Jobs for New Grads

A recent report revealed the top entry level jobs for college graduates.

CollegeGrad.com's 2009 Top Entry-Level Employers list represents about 158,000 jobs. Verizon Wireless came out on top, planning to hire more than 13,000 new grads, while the smallest featured employers planned on only hiring 10 new grads.

The complete top 10 include:

1. Verizon Wireless, planning to hire 13,198 grads
2. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, planning to hire 8,000 grads
3. Internal Revenue Service, planning to hire 5,000 grads
4. Progressive Insurance, planning to hire 4,200 grads
5. DDP Holdings, planning to hire 4,000 grads
6. Teach For America, planning to hire 4,000 grads
7. AT&T, planning to hire 3,428 grads
8. Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, planning to hire 3,051 grads
9. Hertz, planning to hire 3,000 grads
10. Federal Bureau of Investigation, planning to hire 2,950 grads

"The hiring landscape is ever-changing and provides challenges to the employer and employee alike," Leighann McGinnis, staff vice president for Verizon Wireless, said. "Despite these challenges, there is a continued need to identify and attract top talent ... College graduates are highly engaged, technically adept and compliment our culture."

Even though entry level job seekers face a continually declining economy, most figures show that college recruiting remains stable. However, employers are looking for recent graduates who can perform well and provide new insight.

"I want seniors and recent graduates to be aware that there are jobs out there for them, despite the media's 24/7 hyperbole about the economy," Rob Brooks, director of career services at Mount Ida College, said. "They probably will encounter some rejection as they pursue employment, but that is normal in any economy and should not deter them from their career goals. Focused effort, job hunting skills, persistence and resiliency will overcome any obstacles to their search."

"The cliche is true ... finding a job is a full-time job in itself," Shelly Robinson, director of career services at Purdue University Calumet, said. "It is a lot of work and students should be prepared to encounter rejection, and even worse, get no response at all. Even so, they shouldn't give up and should continue to network and seek out the perfect opportunity."